Newsletter
Newsletter 352
Monday, August 24th, 2020 Newsletter,A friend, knowing that I came from a certain country town, recently presented me with a little book she had found. Coaltown: A Social Survey of Cessnock N.S.W. by Alan Walker (1946), proved to be absorbing reading. The author was obviously an early Australian follower of the French Annales school of historians, as he adeptly […]
Newsletter 351
Monday, August 17th, 2020 Newsletter,Although I try and resist the impulse to believe that everything is going down the drain, in certain cases it seems indisputable. Take the ABC for instance. A sustained period of Coalition rule has just about gutted the national broadcaster although Scummo won’t even admit he’s made any cuts. When the organisation is talking about […]
Newsletter 350
Thursday, August 13th, 2020 Newsletter,Watching Jonathan Swan’s interview with Donald Trump this week made me feel that perhaps there is a future for common sense in this world. Each time Trump tried to spin off into one of his alternative realities, Swan brought him back to earth. If one disregards the President’s casual attitude to an ongoing coronavirus death […]
Newsletter 349
Tuesday, August 4th, 2020 Newsletter,Each morning I wake up to some fresh indication that we are headed into a new Cold War – or worse. To learn that the Australian Foreign Minister and Defence Minister were winging ther way to Washington D.C. this week, to assure the appalling Mike Pompeo that we’re going all the way with the USA […]
Newsletter 348
Monday, July 27th, 2020 Newsletter,As of this week the Sydney Morning Herald has asked me to send readers to the version of the art column that appears on the newpaper’s site instead of taking the direct route to my own website. It’s perversely flattering they seem to believe I may be discouraging people from buying the paper on Saturday, […]
Newsletter 347
Monday, July 20th, 2020 Newsletter,As a new surge of cornonavirus cases in Victoria threatens to plunge us back into lockdown, I’m starting to wonder when normal service will ever be resumed – and I’m speaking as someone who has enjoyed the seclusion more than most. The obvious danger of a second lockdown is that many businesses will find it […]
Newsletter 346
Monday, July 13th, 2020 Newsletter,Pardon the cliché, but what a difference a week makes! The previous newsletter anticipated a long, bitter fight to keep the Powerhouse Museum in Ultimo, but on Saturday morning I was amazed to hear that the government had backed down from their “non-negotiable” stance and decided the PHM should stay where it is. Almost […]
Newsletter 345
Monday, July 6th, 2020 Newsletter,In all the years I’ve been writing no piece has ever generated a bigger response than last week’s blast on the proposed ‘move’ of the Powerhouse Museum, so I’m leaving it in the headline slot for another week. The feedback was roughly 99% in favour, which should be a source of concern for the people […]
Newsletter 344
Monday, June 29th, 2020 Newsletter,This week is an orgy of issues. The art column looks at the new iconoclasm that’s sweeping the western world, and asks if Captain Cook deserves the bad rap he’s getting from the protestors. A piece for the Blog tries to sum up all the objections to the proposed destruction of the Powerhouse Museum. I […]
Newsletter 343
Monday, June 22nd, 2020 Newsletter,Against my own inclinations I’m at home writing this newsletter when I’d prefer to be at a rally in support of the Powerhouse Museum. The only reason I’m not in Harris Street is a promise to avoid large groups of people while the coronavirus is still active. This is, of course, one of the reasons […]